This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence – the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed – why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred Oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The Capitol was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it].

America: In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.

2.3.2 2^nd Inaugural Address of Barack H. Obama

Read the speech and answer the following questions:

1. Name the main messages of President Obama’s second inaugural address and compare them with the main messages of the first one.
2. Name the main challenges emphasized by Barack Obama in his first and second inaugural addresses and compare them.
3. Compare the tone, emphases, focuses of the two speeches. Do they differ? What means of language President Obama resorts to make you think so? What is the difference caused by?
4. Try to divide President Obama’s arguments into those aimed to explain his former policies and decisions and those designed to be promises for the future.
5. Comment on the statement “Through blood drawn by lash and blood drawn by sword, we found that no union founded on the principles of liberty and equality could survive half slave, and half free”.
6. Comment on the statement “For we, the people, understand that our country cannot succeed when a shrinking few do very well and a growing many hardly make it”. Is it relevant for any state? Prove your point.
7. Translate the highlighted extracts into Russian.

Barack Obama

Second Presidential Inaugural Address

Delivered 21 January 2013

Thank you, so much.

Vice President Biden, Mr. Chief Justice, members of the United States Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens, each time we gather to inaugurate a president, we bear witness to the enduring strength of our Constitution. We affirm the promise of our democracy. We recall that what binds this nation together is not the colors of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the origins of our names.

What makes us exceptional, what makes us America is our allegiance to an idea articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Today we continue a never ending journey to bridge the meaning of those words with the realities of our time. For history tells us that while these truths may be self-evident, they’ve never been self-executing. That while freedom is a gift from God, it must be secured by his people here on earth.

The patriots of 1776 did not fight to replace the tyranny of a king with the privileges of a few, or the rule of a mob. They gave to us a republic, a government of, and by, and for the people. Entrusting each generation to keep safe our founding creed. And for more than 200 years we have. Through blood drawn by lash, and blood drawn by sword, we noted that no union founded on the principles of liberty and equality could survive half slave, and half free. We made ourselves anew, and vowed to move forward together.

Together we determined that a modern economy requires railroads and highways to speed travel and commerce, schools and colleges to train our workers. Together we discovered that a free market only thrives when there are rules to ensure competition and fair play. Together we resolve that a great nation must care for the vulnerable and protect its people from life’s worst hazards and misfortune.

Through it all, we have never relinquished our skepticism of central authority, nor have we succumbed to the fiction that all societies ills can be cured through government alone. Our celebration of initiative and enterprise, our insistence on hard work and personal responsibility, these are constants in our character.

But we have always understood that when times change, so must we; that fidelity to our founding principles requires new responses to new challenges; that preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action. For the American people can no more meet the demands of today’s world by acting alone than American soldiers could have met the forces of fascism or communism with muskets and militias. No single person can train all the math and science teachers we’ll need to equip our children for the future, or build the roads and networks and research labs that will bring new jobs and businesses to our shores. Now, more than ever, we must do these things together, as one nation and one people.

This generation of Americans has been tested by crises that steeled our resolve and proved our resilience. A decade of war is now ending. An economic recovery has begun. America’s possibilities are limitless, for we possess all the qualities that this world without boundaries demands: youth and drive; diversity and openness; an endless capacity for risk and a gift for reinvention. My fellow Americans, we are made for this moment, and we will seize it – so long as we seize it together.

For we, the people, understand that our country cannot succeed when a shrinking few do very well and a growing many barely make it. We believe that America’s prosperity must rest upon the broad shoulders of a rising middle class. We know that America thrives when every person can find independence and pride in their work; when the wages of honest labor liberate families from the brink of hardship. We are true to our creed when a little girl born into the bleakest poverty knows that she has the same chance to succeed as anybody else, because she is an American; she is free, and she is equal, not just in the eyes of God but also in our own.

We understand that outworn programs are inadequate to the needs of our time. So we must harness new ideas and technology to remake our government, revamp our tax code, reform our schools, and empower our citizens with the skills they need to work harder, learn more, reach higher. But while the means will change, our purpose endures. A nation that rewards the effort and determination of every single American. That is what this moment requires. That is what will give real meaning to our creed.

We, the people, still believe that every citizen deserves a basic measure of security and dignity. We must make the hard choices to reduce the cost of health care and the size of our deficit. But we reject the belief that America must choose between caring for the generation that built this country and investing in the generation that will build its future. For we remember the lessons of our past, when twilight years were spent in poverty and parents of a child with a disability had nowhere to turn.

We do not believe that in this country freedom is reserved for the lucky, or happiness for the few. We recognize that no matter how responsibly we live our lives, any one of us at any time may face a job loss, or a sudden illness, or a home swept away in a terrible storm. The commitments we make to each other through Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security, these things do not sap our initiative, they strengthen us. They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country great.

We, the people, still believe that our obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to all posterity. We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations. Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires and crippling drought and more powerful storms.

The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But America cannot resist this transition, we must lead it. We cannot cede to other nations the technology that will power new jobs and new industries, we must claim its promise. That’s how we will maintain our economic vitality and our national treasure – our forests and waterways, our crop lands, and snow-capped peaks. That is how we will preserve our planet, commanded to our care by God. That’s what will lend meaning to the creed our Fathers once declared.

We, the people, still believe that enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war. Our brave men and women in uniform, tempered by the flames of battle, are unmatched in skill and courage. Our citizens, seared by the memory of those we have lost, know too well the price that is paid for liberty. The knowledge of their sacrifice will keep us forever vigilant against those who would do us harm. But we are also heirs to those who won the peace and not just the war; who turned sworn enemies into the surest of friends – and we must carry those lessons into this time as well.

We will defend our people and uphold our values through strength of arms and rule of law. We will show the courage to try and resolve our differences with other nations peacefully – not because we are naï ve about the dangers we face, but because engagement can more durably lift suspicion and fear.

America will remain the anchor of strong alliances in every corner of the globe. And we will renew those institutions that extend our capacity to manage crisis abroad, for no one has a greater stake in a peaceful world than its most powerful nation. We will support democracy from Asia to Africa, from the Americas to the Middle East, because our interests and our conscience compel us to act on behalf of those who long for freedom. And we must be a source of hope to the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the victims of prejudice – not out of mere charity, but because peace in our time requires the constant advance of those principles that our common creed describes: tolerance and opportunity, human dignity, and justice.

We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths – that all of us are created equal – is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a " King" proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth.

It is now our generation’s task to carry on what those pioneers began. For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts.

Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law – for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.

Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote.

Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity – until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country.

Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia, to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for and cherished and always safe from harm.

That is our generation’s task: to make these words, these rights, these values of life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness real for every American. Being true to our founding documents does not require us to agree on every contour of life. It does not mean we all define liberty in exactly the same way or follow the same precise path to happiness. Progress does not compel us to settle centuries-long debates about the role of government for all time, but it does require us to act in our time.

For now decisions are upon us and we cannot afford delay. We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate. We must act, knowing that our work will be imperfect. We must act, knowing that today’s victories will be only partial and that it will be up to those who stand here in four years and 40 years and 400 years hence to advance the timeless spirit once conferred to us in a spare Philadelphia hall.

My fellow Americans, the oath I have sworn before you today, like the one recited by others who serve in this Capitol, was an oath to God and country, not party or faction. And we must faithfully execute that pledge during the duration of our service. But the words I spoke today are not so different from the oath that is taken each time a soldier signs up for duty or an immigrant realizes her dream. My oath is not so different from the pledge we all make to the flag that waves above and that fills our hearts with pride.

They are the words of citizens and they represent our greatest hope. You and I, as citizens, have the power to set this country’s course. You and I, as citizens, have the obligation to shape the debates of our time – not only with the votes we cast, but with the voices we lift in defense of our most ancient values and enduring ideals.

Let us, each of us, now embrace with solemn duty and awesome joy what is our lasting birthright. With common effort and common purpose, with passion and dedication, let us answer the call of history and carry into an uncertain future that precious light of freedom.

Thank you.

God bless you.

And may He forever bless these United States of America.

2.4 1^st Inaugural Address of Vladimir V. Putin

Read the speech and answer the following questions:

1. Name the main messages of the speech and express your opinion what events had influenced President’s Putin choice of the main topics of his first address to the nation as its President.
2. What are the rhetoric strategies used by President Putin in his speech?
3. Do you find this speech different from its foreign counterparts studied earlier? In what aspects?
4. What passages of the speech do you consider most/least impressive and inspirational? Why?
5. What transformations have been done to create the English text? Do you find them necessary?

Выступление В.В. Путина на церемонии вступления в должность Президента РФ

7 мая 2000 г.

Уважаемые граждане России, дорогие друзья! Сегодня я обращаюсь к вам, именно к вам, потому что вы доверили мне высший государственный пост в стране.

Я понимаю, что взял на себя огромную ответственность, и знаю, в России глава государства всегда был и будет человеком, который отвечает за все, что происходит в стране.

Первый Президент России, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, покидая Кремль, сегодня вспомнил об этом, произнес слова, которые многим запомнились. Он сегодня повторил в этом зале: “Берегите Россию”. Именно в этом я вижу главную президентскую обязанность. Исполнение этого долга буду требовать и от своих соратников по работе, по службе. Я также рассчитываю найти в этом патриотическом деле помощь сограждан России, всех, кому дорога судьба нашего Отечества.

Vladimir Putin

The speech during the 1^st inauguration ceremony

May 7th, 2000

Esteemed citizens of Russia and dear friends, I am addressing you today, you in particular, since you have entrusted me with the highest post in the country.

I am aware that I have undertaken a huge responsibility and I am aware that the head of state in Russia has always been and will always be responsible for everything, for everything that is happening in the country.

On leaving the Kremlin, the first president of Russia, Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin, made remarks which many would remember. He reminded us of these words today. He said and repeated in this hall today: take care of Russia. This is how I see my main task as president.

I will expect my comrade-in-arms and colleagues to fulfil this duty as well. I am hoping that my fellow compatriots and all those who hold dear the destiny of their fatherland will help in this patriotic affair.

Сегодня хочу поблагодарить и моих сторонников, всех тех, кто проголосовал за меня на выборах. Вы поддержали те первые шаги, которые были уже сделаны. Вы поверили, что вместе мы сможем изменить нашу жизнь к лучшему. Я глубоко признателен вам за это. Но я понимаю, что ваша поддержка — это только аванс власти в целом и, разумеется, мне, вступающему сегодня в должность Президента страны.

Обращаюсь и к тем, кто голосовал за других кандидатов. Убежден, что вы голосовали за наше общее будущее, за наши общие цели, за лучшую жизнь, за процветающую и сильную Россию. У каждого из нас свой опыт, свои взгляды, но мы должны быть вместе, нам многое предстоит сделать сообща.

Сегодня действительно исторический день, я хочу на этом еще раз сконцентрировать внимание. В самом деле, впервые за всю историю нашего государства, за всю историю России впервые верховная власть в стране передается самым демократическим, самым простым образом, по воле народа, законно и мирно.

Смена власти — всегда проверка конституционного строя, проверка его на прочность. Да, у нас это не первая проверка, очевидно, не последняя, но это испытание, этот рубеж в нашей жизни мы прошли достойно. Мы доказали, что Россия становится современным демократическим государством.

Мирная преемственность власти — это важнейший элемент политической стабильности, о которой мы с вами мечтали, к которой стремились, которой добивались. Путь к свободному обществу не был простым и легким, в нашей истории были и трагические, и светлые страницы.
I also want to thank my supporters today, all those who voted for me during the election. You expressed your support for the first steps that were made. You believed that together we could change life for the better. I am deeply grateful to you for this but I understand that your support is only an advance to the authorities as a whole and, of course, to myself, who is assuming office as the country's president.

I appeal also to those who voted for other candidates: I am convinced that you voted for our common future, for our common goals, for a better life, for a flourishing and strong Russia. Each one of us has his own experience, his own views, but we must be together: we have to do a great many things together.

Today is truly a historic day. I wish to focus attention on this once more. In actual fact, for the first time in the entire history of our state, for the first time in Russian history, supreme power in the country is handed over in the most democratic and in the most simple way: through the will of the people, legally and peacefully.

The transfer of power is always a test of the constitutional system, a test of its strength.

It is true that this is not the first test for us. Perhaps, it is not the last one.

However, we have gone through this trial, this stage, with dignity. We have proved that Russia is becoming a truly democratic modern state. The peaceful succession of power is the crucial element of the political stability which we have dreamt of, to which we have aspired and which we have sought.

The movement towards a free society has not been easy. There have been both tragic and bright stages in our history.

Построение демократического государства еще далеко не завершено, но много уже сделано. Мы обязаны беречь достигнутое, хранить и развивать демократию, сделать так, чтобы избранная народом власть работала в его интересах, защищала российского гражданина везде, и в нашей стране, и за ее пределами, служила обществу. Это принципиальная, жесткая позиция, я ее отстаивал и намерен отстаивать в будущем.

Ради сегодняшнего торжественного события мы собрались сегодня здесь, в Кремле, в святом для нашего народа месте. Здесь в Кремле — сосредоточие нашей национальной памяти. Здесь, в стенах Кремля, веками вершилась история нашей страны, и у нас нет права быть “Иванами, не помнящими родства”.

Мы не должны забывать ничего, мы должны знать свою историю, знать ее такой, какая она есть, извлекать из нее уроки, всегда помнить о тех, кто создал Российское государство, отстаивал его достоинство, делал его великим, мощным, могучим государством. Мы сохраним эту память, и мы сохраним эту связь времен, и все лучшее из нашей истории мы передадим потомкам.

Уважаемые граждане России! Мы верим в свои силы, в то, что мы можем по-настоящему преобразовать и преобразить страну. У нас общие цели, мы хотим, чтобы наша Россия была свободной, процветающей, богатой, сильной, цивилизованной страной, страной, которой гордятся ее граждане и которую уважают в мире.

The establishment of a democratic state is a process which is yet far from completed. However, a great deal has already been done. We must safeguard what has been achieved, maintain and develop democracy, ensure that the authorities elected by the people work in their interests, defend Russian citizens everywhere, including both inside and outside our country, and serve the society.

This is my convinced firm position. I have defended it and intend to continue defending it.

For today's formal event we are gathered here, in the Kremlin, a place which is sacred for our people. The Kremlin is the heart of our national memory. Our country's history has been shaped here, inside the Kremlin walls, over centuries. And we do not have the right to be heedless of our past.

We must not forget anything. We must know our history, know it as it really is, draw lessons from it and always remember those who created the Russian state, championed its dignity and made it a great, powerful and mighty state.

We shall preserve that memory, and we shall preserve that tradition through the ages. We shall hand down to our descendants all that is best in our history — all that is best.

Esteemed citizens of Russia, we believe in our strength, in our ability to really transform and transfigure the country. We have common goals.

We want our Russia to be a free, prosperous, rich, strong and civilized country, a country of which its citizens are proud and which is respected in the world.

В последние месяцы и в Москве, и на встречах в российских регионах я чувствовал ваше понимание и вашу поддержку, и очень часто от людей, от самых простых людей на площадях и улицах наших городов слышал очень простые, но очень важные для меня слова.

Мне говорили: “Мы вам верим, мы надеемся на вас, вы нас только не обманите”. Могу заверить вас, что в своих действиях буду руководствоваться исключительно государственными интересами. Возможно, не удастся избежать ошибок, но что я могу обещать и обещаю, это то, что буду работать открыто и честно.

Считаю своей святой обязанностью сплотить народ России, собрать граждан вокруг ясных целей и задач, и каждый день и каждую минуту помнить, что у нас одна Родина, один народ, у нас с вами одно общее будущее.

Спасибо!
During the past few months, both in Moscow and during meetings in the Russian regions, I have sensed your understanding and your support, and very often from people, from the most ordinary people, in the squares and streets of our towns I have heard very simple words, but words that are very important to me. “We believe you. We are counting on you. Don't deceive us”. I can assure you that in my work I will be guided only by the interests of the state but there may well be mistakes.
But I can promise you, and indeed I do promise, you that I will work openly and honestly.

I consider it my sacred duty to unite the people of Russia and to gather citizens around the clearly-defined tasks and aims and to remember, every minute of every day, that we are one nation and we are one people. We have one common destiny.

Thank you!

Part III. Speeches of British and American leaders of 21^st century

In the third and last part of the course you will read and analyze four speeches of contemporary political leaders. For each speech you will have the tasks given before the text. In addition to that, each speech can be watched and certain parts can be interpreted into Russian.

3.1 Davos World Economic Forum Speech. David Cameron

Read the speech and answer the following questions:

1. Do you agree with David Cameron’s estimation of current state of world economic affairs - the East wins while the West loses; and the workers lose while the machines win? Prove your opinion with facts and figures from reliable sources.
2. What challenges of globalization your country faces? What benefits does it derive? What challenges can be faced more successfully than they are now? Are there any ways to derive more benefits?
3. Analyze all 5 parts of the economic plan outlined by David Cameron.
4. Work out similar plan for your country.
5. Comment on the following David Cameron’s vision of Britain: “This is Britain. Open, pioneering, creative, innovative – and ready for your investment.”
6. The Prime Minister provides the audience with some examples of the ways and means certain companies resort to to prosper. Which of them you personally consider to be good and effective ideas?
7. Do social protections and increased regulations bring more advantages or drawbacks for the development of economy. Prove your point using the examples of several states with different economic policies.
8. Translate the highlighted extracts into Russian.

David Cameron

Davos World Economic Forum Speech

Delivered on 24 January 2014

The key challenge for politicians and business leaders in Europe is how we make a success of globalisation.

For years the West has been written off.

People say that we are facing some sort of inevitable decline.

They say we can’t make anything anymore.

Whether it’s the shift from manufacturing to services, or the transfer from manual jobs to machines, the end point is the same dystopian vision; the East wins while the West loses; and the workers lose while the machines win.

I don’t believe it has to be this way.

Of course, we cannot be starry eyed about globalisation – it presents huge challenges as our economies and societies try to adapt.

But neither should we take this pessimistic view.

If we engage in the right way, if we get the fundamentals of our economies right, sort out our debts, maximise our competitiveness and build on our strengths, then globalisation offers our businesses the chance to win new contracts to export into markets that were previously closed and create jobs fulfilling the demands of new consumers thousands of miles away.

Indeed if we make the right decisions, we may also see more of what has been a small but discernible trend where some jobs that were once offshored are coming back from East to West.